The Plymouth Fire Department will hold its annual open house from noon-3 p.m. Oct. 12 at Fire Station III, 3300 Dunkirk Lane.

The event includes a live kitchen grease fire demonstration, State Patrol rollover simulator, fire truck tour, free food from local restaurants and free pumpkins.

Children will be eligible to enter a drawing to win a free fire truck ride to Honey & Mackie's ice cream shop if they bring a drawing of their home fire escape plan, a colored fire safety poster or a nonperishable food item for donation.

For more information, call the Plymouth Fire Department at 763-509-5120.

Poster contest open for entries until Oct. 21

The Plymouth Fire Department is accepting entries for its annual poster contest until Oct. 21.

The competition, aiming to promote fire prevention during October, which is National Fire Prevention Month, is open to fourth- and fifth-grade students who attend school in Plymouth. This year's theme is "Prevent Kitchen Fires."

Entries will be accepted until 4:30 p.m. Oct. 21 at the Public Safety building attached to City Hall, 3400 Plymouth Blvd. Poster entries must be 12-by-18 inches with the child's name, age, grade, school, teacher's name, home telephone number and parents' names on the back of the poster.

The grand prize winner gets $25 and a ride on a fire truck to school. One winner also will be selected from each school that participates; those winners will get a $15 award.

Fall boutique table rentals are available now

It's time to reserve a table for the Oct. 26 Fall Boutique, where craftspeople can sell their handmade goods.

Rentals cost $17 for a 3-foot-square card table, and sellers can reserve up to two tables. Manufactured items, used goods and food cannot be sold.

The boutique will be held at the Richfield Community Center, 7000 Nicollet Av. S., and will run from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Family tickets are $20 and include lunch between noon and 2 p.m., entertainment by cowboy singer, storyteller and trick roper Pop Wagner; face painting, hay rides, a petting zoo, kids' art activities and a chance to meet six therapy horses.

On Saturday, a group of climate scientists will explain the new report on climate change from the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change by conference call to several west metro locations.

The Minnesota Landscape Arboretum is offering classes on the art of growing apples and pumpkins.

"Grow and Maintain Your Own Apple Trees" will be offered Saturday, Oct. 12, from 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Class members will take a tour of the orchard, where the first Honeycrisp tree still produces fruit, and learn how to plant and care for trees.

Then on Oct. 18, "Beyond the Great Pumpkin!" will be offered from 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. The class will explore the pumpkin patches of the arboretum and learn about squashes and gourds, tracing their roots back to the earliest plants cultivated here.